Fear of the Unknown

To be alive, directly controlling our actions and determining our own wellbeing, can be a daunting thing. The journey we had to take to get where we are right now, was no small feat. There have been great up times and heavy down times. There have been a slew of obstacles and waves of nonbelievers. We have been surrounded by great supporters and have experienced breathtaking journeys. In each circumstance there has been, even for an instant, an element of fear. Often this fear has restricted us and other times this fear has allowed us to experience something incredible we would never have. When our fear broke us we crumbled beneath its weight. When we broke our fear, it shattered below our triumph!

Fear of the unknown can bind us to a life of bland days, if we let it. If we continue to nurture its growth, we become the plant chocked by the weeds. How will we ever blossom to reveal our true potential if fear of the unknown or missed opportunities, is allowed to grow beside our roots?

Many of us have our “what if” moments. Times when we question all the great journeys we could have experienced, all the great treasures we could have found, all the incredible people we could have met, all the praise we could have been showered with, all the riches we could have claimed, and all the stories we could have told, if we simply decided to do one small thing differently. The irony here is, with any small deviation from our chosen path, we would not have learnt and applied all the lessons we did, which shaped our reality. Even if our present circumstances are not what our peers are experiencing or not what matches our wildest dreams, with each choice made, lie within it untold amounts of lessons for us to use as tools to build our dreams!

Whenever we seek something, we put into motion, at that very moment, a process that will not be stopped until that which we seek has been found. No task is too small and no obstacle is too big. Whether we wish to have the best kept lawn in our neighborhood or we wish to carve through a mountain by hand, our vision will always be realized. We may toil tirelessly at times and ask ourselves, “what if we did something differently?” We may not see the destination we once saw in our mind because the process has become laborious. It’s here when we should remind ourselves of why we have come this far. Remind ourselves of the life changing experience we want to bring into this world. Remind ourselves of who we are laboring for. This simple mental jolt has the potential to bring an immediate sense of pleasure and instill an even greater vigor than the one we had the day our vision was formed.

Each thing we are now accustomed to, everything that has become a staple in our lives, every item we hold as essential to our day, everything we experience with our senses and everything we have ever accomplished, were once only thoughts…imagine if fear of failure or hardship swallowed these thoughts? How different would your day have been? How different would your life be today?

If we stop asking questions like, “why should we continue” or “what if we chose another option”, and started instead to remind ourselves why we are working so hard or who we are laboring for, our days would be filled with greater levels of fulfillment. We may begin to experience small joys consistently, which will lead to a large level of satisfaction at the culmination of our day. We may begin to feel more excited about each task we engage in and may want to share more of our incredible stories with friends and family. We may even start getting strange looks from our loved ones because of the sudden sense of rejuvenation, ultimately leading to them wanting to make the same shift, in their days, to reignite their vigor for life.

We must be the botanists and caregivers to our own garden. We must be the ones to till our soil, to water our dreams, to prune our detractors, to feed our spirits, to allow the sun to shine in our hearts, to regulate our emotional temperature, to allow our roots to spread wide, to remove the weeds which attempt to latch onto our vision and we must study our own science of success. Only with this can our flowers and fruits of fulfillment be shared with the world.

The unknown exists for us to discover our own wonders and there have been no missed opportunities because the journey of life itself is the greatest opportunity.
Will the roots of fear constrict you into submission or will your blossoms become the catalyst for others to allow their potential to bloom?

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.
– Dorothy Thompson